Pipe-hanger.



Patented Aug. 5, |902. A. J. BEATUN.

P I P E H A N G E B.

(Application filed. Oct. 16, 1900.)

tiran Arne ALLAN J. BEATCN, OF SOUTHINGTON, CONNECTICUT.

PlPEw-HANGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 706,292, dated August 5, 1902.

Application filed October 16, 1900. Serial No. 33,250. (No model.)

.To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, ALLAN J. BnA'roN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Southington, in the countyof Hartford and State of Connecticut,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe-Hangers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in pipe-hangers; and the main object of my improvement is to produce an efcient hanger the main portion of which consists of a plain imperforate strap of thin metal that may be drawn up to any desired length and secured by a friction-buckle.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a side elevation of my pipe-hanger with a part of the straight portion broken ont. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detached side elevation of the head or buckleframe and attached screw-eye. Fig. l is a detached plan View of the locking-bar. Fig. 5 is a side view of the head or buckle-frame and the locking-bar, illustrating the manner of insorting the said bar within the said frame. Fig. 6 is a plan view of one of the holding eyes or rings, and Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical section of a portion of my hanger on the line :r m of Fig. l.

A designates the head or buckle-frame by which the entire hanger is supported, the said frame having attached thereto any ordinary or suitable means for securing the hanger to a beam or other support, the said securing means, as shown, consisting of an ordinary screw-eye 8. The said buckle-frame is a rectangular frame composed of end bars 9 l0 and side bars 1l, and I prefer to place aroll12 on the lower end bar 10, as shown.

In connection with the buckle-frame or head A, I employ a locking-bar B, formed of plate metal of a length about equal to the width of the buckle-frame A and of a form substantially that of an inverted .V with a slightly-rounded apex. In the top of this locking-bar at each end I forni a notch or recess 13 of a width that will readily admit the side bars ll of the buckle-frame, the said notches being of such length that the length of the metal between them is such that it can lie in a horizontal or transverse position between the said side bars of the buckle-frame.

The said buckle-frame and locking-bar together constitute a friction-buckle.

The body or main portion of the hanger C consists of a plain flexible band or strap of metal C, with one end 14 secured or made fast to the locking-bar B in any proper manner and with its other end 15 left free for securing within the friction-buckle, whereby the strap may be formed into a hanger consisting of a pipe-inclosing loop at its lower end and a long pendent portion between the said loop and the buckle, while the strap may be drawn up` and buckled with any desired length of adj nstable pendent portion between the said pipe-inclosing loop and the buckle. In connection with the strap I prefer to employ two eyes or flattened rings 16, through which the strap may be passed, as hereinafter described. The end 14 of the strap can be efficiently secured to the locking-bar B by merely rolling said end over the top of the said bar and over the lower edge at one side with the extreme end forced up into the inner apex of the bar, as shown in Fig. 7. Vhn thus fastened, the end 14 of the strap as it extends over the top of the V-shaped bar B forms practically a hook, and when it extends around the lower end of one leg ofthe said bar it forms a second hook, whereby the end of the strap is conned or fastened to the said locking-bar so firmly that it cannot be pulled off by any strain exerted in the downward direction so long as the oppositely-faced hooks do not unroll or straighten out. By pressing the extreme end of the strap irmly up in between the two legs of the V-shaped bar that end is effectually held against unrolling or bending, so that the hooks cannot straighten out. When the said bar, with connected strap, `is in place in the buckle-frame, it is impossible to disconnect the end 14C of the strap from the bar. After the bar and attached strap are placed within the frame there is no necessity of ever removing them. I have referred to the strap or band C as imperforate, and in so doing I refer particularly to the end that is adjustably secured within the friction-buckle and the fact that no perforations are necessary to lock it, and consequently it can be locked at any desired point.

For transportation the locking-bar with one IOO end of the strap attached is assembled within the buckle-frame, the two rings 16 slipped upon the strap, the strap C doubled upon itself near the middle of its length and its end 15 passed through both of the rings 16, then between the locking-bar and end bar of the buckle-frame, and then through the upper one of the` rings 16, all as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. If desired, the loop at the lower end may be flattened somewhat more than there shown.

For hanging a pipe the friction-buckle will be secured to any proper support by means of the screw-eye or its equivalent. The locking-bar and connected end 14 of the strap may be lifted or slipped along in the buckleframe away from the lower end bar and roll l2, when the free end 15 of the strap C can be pulled out of the upper one of the rings 16 and out of the jaws of the friction-buckle. Then the said end may be pulled out from both of the rings 16, leaving the strap in the form ofa long flexible length of a single thickness. It is then wound around the under side of the pipe, tucked up through the vtwo rings 16, forming a loop at the lower end which can be fitted as closely to the pipe as may be desired, and one of the rings forced downwardly toward the pipe to hold the two members of the doubled strap together. The locking-bar B is then slipped along upwardly in the buckle-frame to separate it from the roll 12, (the pipe being lifted a little above its desired position,) and the free end 15 of the strap passed between the said roll and har from that side of the said bar from which the strap depends and then turned down in the form of a holding-loop over the lower bar of the, buckle-frame and again through the upper one ofthe rings 16, as shown in Figs. l, 2, and 7, whereby the strap is doubled upon itself and forms a pipe-inclosing loop at its lower end and an adjustable pendent portion between the said loop and the buckle. As soon as the weight of the pipe is permitted to pull upon the hanger the locking-bar is pulled firmly down upon the end 15 of the strap within the grasp of the buckle and is firmly held there by friction, so that the greater the weight of the pipe the more firmly will the strap be locked within the buckle.

The free end 15 of the strap is tucked into the ring 16 merely to hold it in place and prevent it from inconveniently or unsightly projecting. The said ring, however, is no part of the friction-buckle and is not necessary for the purpose of locking or fastening the said end to the buckle. The friction-buckle alone will firmly hold the end 15 of the strap, no matter whether the said end is oris not tucked into the ring 16.

- I am aware that several prior patents show and describe buckles of somewhat differing forms that employ a frame and a sliding or locking bar for securing soft and non-metallic straps or webs; also, that a prior patent shows and describes a cable hanger or clip comprisinga zinc band with devices acting as a binder on the said band to hold it tightly and firmly to the surface of the cable by utilizing the said surface of the cable as a part of the clamping or binding lneans, the said band having a limited capacity for holding cables of different sizes,but with the buckle drawn closely to the cable,and therefore with no substantial adjustability in the height of the top of the cable from the suspending-support. All of said prior art is hereby disclaimed.

By my improvement the buckle may be at any desired distance from the pipe and the surface of the pipe has no function whatever in the locking action of the friction-buckle, whereby a pipe of a given size may be hung higher or lower, as maybe desired, by means of the buckle and the adjustable pendent portion of the strap between the pipe-inclosing loop and the said buckle.

It is apparent that some changes from the specific construction herein disclosed may be made, and therefore I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise form of construction shown and described, but desire the liberty to make such changes in working my invention as may fairly come Within the spirit and scope of the same.

I claim as my inventionl. In a pipe-hanger, the combination of the buckle-frame having a rectangular opening, with the locking-bar formed of plate metal bent into the form of an inverted V with notches at each end in the junction of the two legs to receive the side bars of the frame, and the flexible metal strap fastened by one end to the said bar and with its other end free to pass between the said locking-bar and the lower end of the frame, substantially as K described.

2. In a pipe-hanger, the combination of the y,

rectangular buckle-frame with the lockingbar in the form of an inverted V fitted to slide vertically within the said frame, and the long flexible metal strap having one end rolled over the top of the said V-shaped bar and around the lower end of one leg thereof and secured therein by having the extreme end forced up in between the two legs of the bar near their junction, substantially as de scribed.

3. In a pipe-hanger, the combination of a buckle-frame with the roll 12, on the lower end bar of the frame and a V-shaped lockingbar mounted to slide within the said frame, and having the lower ends of its legs spread apart for exerting a pressure upon the roll at the laterally-opposite sides of the lower end bar of the said frame, substantially as described.

4. In a pipe-hanger, the combination of the buckle-frame with a locking-bar having two depending legs, the said bar being loosely mounted within the said frame at the apex of the said bar, whereby the said bar may rock IIO laterally on its fulornm according to the Vw itself over one of the said legs and depending rying pressure on the lower end of the legs, from the` other one of the said legs, substanzo substantially as described. tially as described.

The combination of a buckle-frame having side bars and a. lower end bar, with a. twolegged locking-bar mounted Within the said Witnesses: frame for slidinglongitudnally to the said bar, JAMES SHEPARD, and a sheet-metal hanger-strap doubled upon B. C. WOODFORD.

ALLAN J. BEATON. 

